Public and Private Finance for Development

Public Finance for Development is the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (MF SR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)´s programme. Its aim is to facilitate the sharing of Slovak knowledge and experience in public finance management with partner countries, and to advance their efforts towards sustainable human and economic development. Public finance management is among the most successful stories in Slovakia’s economic transition. The programme focuses on providing technical assistance and institutional capacity building in the Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans countries that are going through transformation processes with an ambition to join the European Union.

The programme was launched in 2009 as part of Slovakia’s official development assistance effort. In the first years, the programme was part of a broader partnership between the UNDP and the Slovak Republic. Since 2017, it has been continued as the Public and Private Finance for Development Programme in the frame of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic – UNDP partnership.

Main goals of Public Finance for Development programme

Partner countries

The PFD Programme currently focuses on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and North Macedonia. Ukraine was a part of the programme activities until 2017.

Technical assistance and cooperation areas are identified based on the clearly defined needs of beneficiary partners – national institutions like ministries of finance and relevant line ministries, tax or customs administrations, higher territorial units and local self-governments, or other relevant institutions. It all results in a specific project that takes into account both partners’ national priorities and the Slovak experts’ availability in the field of public finances.

Private finance in development

In 2017, a “private finance” component was added to the programme, thus making it a comprehensive Public and Private Finance for Development project. Not only public, but also private resources are now needed to support development. In development cooperation, they are gradually being perceived as an equivalent source of financing. The good news is that the Slovak private sector is becoming more interested in development initiatives and its engagement is on the rise. It is dealt with also in The Medium-Term Strategy for Development Cooperation of the Slovak Republic for 2019-2023.

The private sector for development cooperation focuses on the mobilization of private financial resources, knowledge, expertise and technologies that have the potential to support achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The “private sector” part of the project creates favourable conditions for Slovak companies, consultants, and other organizations (e.g. non-governmental organizations, academia) for entering new markets, getting involved in development cooperation, sharing and addressing risks, identifying new, long-term business partners, and opportunities to invest in the developing countries, thus increasing their well-being.

More about private sector engagement

Timeline of activities